Wednesday, 21 February, 2018 Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City A fairly rare occurrence for Central Park (Manhattan, N.Y. City) at least in the modern era, a drake REDHEAD appeared there today at the reservoir, present from at least early morning & still there in afternoon; the reservoir has otherwise had a modest variety of waterfowl in recent weeks, which has included some Scaup - possibly of both species, although some definitively Lesser, over a week ago & not lingering; as well as more-regular Ring-necked Ducks (up to 6, and most recently just 1 pair), a few Green-winged Teal (to at least 3 days ago, not noticed since) and the much more regular Gadwall, N. Shovelers, Ruddy Ducks, a smattering of American Black Ducks, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, and Wood Ducks as well as usual year-round Mallards; Canada Geese had been in the 650-700+ numbers on some days earlier in February just at the reservoir, now diminished; and the Horned Grebe, Red-throated Loon, and Great Cormorant of earlier this winter seemed to have moved on from the reservoir, while Double-cresated Cormorants have some days numbered up to six or more. Also visiting have been a Great Blue Heron, and up to 1,500 gulls of what appeared to be just the “usual 3” winter species: Ring-billed, American Herring, & Great Black-backed Gulls. Plus American Coots in single-digit no’s. as is usual.
There’s been a bit of movement, local & maybe otherwise in recent days, with American Woodcock appearing at least on one day (Saturday) and a number of fly-by Turkey Vultures, perhaps peaking recently on Monday, with up to twenty or more, most heading in a northerly direction (also there have been some in recent weeks that may appear to be going in any of the directions on the compass); a very few possible / potential raptor migrants, such as Sharp-shinned & (more) Cooper’s & Red-tailed Hawks, but these, esp. the latter 2 spp. just as likely local-residents of the nearby metropolis or its parks, or simply wintering in the area still. Also sightings of the “carnivorous-parrot” type, a.k.a. American Kestrel, Merlin (less often) and Peregrine, which with the exception of Merlin could be local residents. Passerine arrivals & (mostly) fly-throughs have been mainly, or most-obviously of blackbirds, including Red-winged Blackbirds (over 100, mainly males, today passing the northern edge of the park before 7 a.m.), Common Grackles (some hundreds on several days in the prior week+) and at least a very few Rusty Blackbirds, and also a couple of Brown-headed Cowbirds (a few of these latter 2 spp. perhaps partially overwintering in the park, although not consistently noticed). There have been a small (fewer than 50) number of American Robins in the park much of the winter, these both in the areas south of, and some well north of, the reservoir. [Red] Fox Sparrows are still in the park, with up to a dozen through the entire park, most often mixing with flocks of White-throated Sparrows, and this past month, esp. evident in the Ramble. Slate-colored Juncos have been a bit more regular all winter long with as many as 60+ in discrete flocks through the past 2 months, especially evident at Cedar Hill, as well as a few areas in the n. end of the park. It’s a record-breaking 77 degrees in Manhattan this winter’s day; there is some food hatching-out for insectivorous birds… good ethically-minded birding, Tom Fiore Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
